Good News, Bad News

The good news is the 49ers are finally parting with Jonas Jennings, the oft-injured, hyper-sensitive offensive tackle. It’s too bad, because Jennings has so much talent, but he couldn’t stay healthy and his inability to do so (whether fair or not) made him lose respect with his fellow linemates. It became clear within the last few years that Jennings no longer wanted to be a 49er, and rumors abounded, which he denined, that former coach Mike Nolan made fun of him in front of the team, that he was upset when the team went to Atlanta, that coaches didn’t allow him to invite players to his home for a meal the day before the game. Rumors persisted that Jennings and former offensive line coach George Warhop despised each other, which might be one reason Jennings consistently graded out poorly the last two years in the rare instances he did play.

Did the 49ers cling to Jennings too long? Possibly. But tackles are hard to find, and when Jennings played 13 games in 2006, the 49ers were a dominant run team, with Frank Gore racing for a team record 1,695 yards and most of that production coming behind Jennings at left tackle and Larry Allen at left guard. Even as late as last summer’s training camp, Jennings showed off a polish at pass protection that was clearly superior to any of the team’s offensive tackles. The bottom line: The man can play, but he just didn’t play enough and his series of setbacks didn’t reflect well with his linemates.

In order to replace him, the 49ers are inviting Steelers’ free agent Marvel Smith for a visit. The former Skyline High (Oakland) standout is 31 and has back problems. He was also slammed by an anonymous scout this year in Pro Football Weekly, who said he was down right awful. The Steelers don’t pass protect much better than the 49ers do, despite their success. In fact, Ben Roethlisberger’s percentage of 8.9 sacks per passes thrown was higher than Shaun Hill’s at 7.4 sacks last year.

But good tackles simply aren’t available in mid-March, however the 49ers need bodies at the position even if they’re broken bodies. Barry Sims and Adam Snyder really struggled at times at right tackle and signing Smith would probably be an upgrade.

QUESTIONS?: The 49ers begin their first minicamp Friday, a two-day affair with everyone reporting except Jennings, Isaac Bruce and Mark Roman. What questions do you want answered from players or coaches on Friday? Send them in.